Ideas that have passed through the fire.

Call it the anti-Bible. A consolation of writings for the faithless, the infidel, the unconvinced. I picked up the book because the topic is interesting. I also thought it could be helpful in understanding why some people find faith incredulous or just don’t have an interest in spirituality. With major names ranging from the new atheists to some of the old, the book offers a who’s who of disbelief and logical discourse. I thought it could be interesting to share my initial reactions as I worked through the book, giving my own impressions of the work and offering some comments relating to elements that I find most persuasive/useful, even if one maintains a faith oriented perspective. So begins the journey, like Don Quixote and the windmills. If anything else, it hopefully should be interesting.

My initial impression of Christopher Hitchens is that he is an engaging writer. His metaphors and allusions are quite colorful and his rankor is rich with journalistic wit. I immediately am somewhat perplexed though with the main contention of Hitchen’s rub. He rails on and on about how illogical the Christian faith is, all the while using innumerable allusions, references and parallels to Christian ideas, events and theological descriptions. This is what I find so interesting. If Christianity were as illogical as he claims, such journalistic wit would be wasted, as it would run aground on countless logical dead ends. What I find to be the opposite, is that Hitchens is able to be so engaging and artful BECAUSE OF the fact Christianity is logical and consistent. Someone is overstating the case here, with intricate logical discourse nonetheless. Hitchens may weave a masterful narrative of disbelief but it hinges on the solidity of the logic of Christian discourse. To suggest otherwise seems to render Hitchens style impotent. With every artful pary of the journalistic sword, I become less convinced of its powerful thrust. Time will tell if the rest of the book offers more than this but that is my first impression with the introduction at least.